(NaturalNews) Update: The primary study referenced in this article deals specifically with methyl mercury, as opposed to the ethyl mercury that metabolizes from Thimerosal (a mercury-based preservative added to some vaccines). Both of these forms are classified as organic mercury, and both have been shown to be neurotoxic (with some studies suggesting that methyl mercury may bioaccumulate in the body more than ethyl mercury).

Though technically distinct from one another, methyl mercury is a structural analog of ethyl mercury, and a cohort of published research shows that the two forms of organic mercury are similar in their neurotoxicity. Expert toxicologist Dr. George W. Lucier, Ph.D., wrote an extensive paper on the subject illustrating that methyl mercury and ethyl mercury are essentially one in the same when it comes to their neurotoxicity, with ethyl mercury (the kind found in some vaccines) being even more likely than methyl mercury to induce autoimmunity:http://www.ashotoftruth.org

All forms of mercury are toxic. Ethyl mercury is 1,000 times MORE toxic once it enters the cells, according to mercury expert Dr. Chris Shade. (Listen to interview here.)

But methyl mercury is believed by some to have a stronger bioaccumulative effect than ethyl mercury, thus making it more toxic. However, published research shows that both forms of mercury cross the blood-brain barrier and

A new study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives provides fresh insight into why millions of people living in the developed world today suffer from severe autoimmune disorders that were virtually unheard of before the advent of vaccines.

Researchers from the University of Michigan Medical and Public Health Schools in Ann Arbor found that mercury, like the kind added to vaccines as a preservative, is a major trigger of autoimmunity in women of childbearing age.

Dr. Emily Somers, Ph.D., and her colleagues looked at government data on women between the ages of 16 and 49, comparing their respective levels of mercury exposure to antinuclear antibody positivity, an indicator of autoimmune activity.

Autoimmunity, as you may already know, is essentially an abnormal immune response in which errant antibodies attack the human body, causing systemic inflammation. The result is a variety of illnesses, often debilitating, that leave a person weak and unable to function normally.

In women with high levels of mercury exposure, autoantibodies, or the antibodies responsible for triggering autoimmunity, were found to be more prevalent. A direct correlation between the two was observed, leading researchers to conclude that mercury is a major risk factor in autoimmunity.

Mercury found to be "main risk factor" for autoimmune disease

Based on the team's findings, Dr. Somers concluded that exposure to mercury is actually the main risk factor for autoimmunity, which would explain why so many children who had been vaccinated according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines now suffer from various autoimmune diseases.

"In our study, exposure to mercury stood out as the main risk factor for autoimmunity," stated Somers, adding in her study's conclusion that exposure to mercury "at low levels generally considered safe" can still lead to subclinical autoimmunity among reproductive-age females.

"Autoantibodies may predate clinical disease by years, thus methylmercury exposure may be relevant to future autoimmune disease risk," the team added.

What this means is that exposure to mercury can cause long-term health problems that may or may not show symptoms in the short term. So a vaccinated child, for instance, could appear healthy and normal in the days, weeks or even months following vaccination, but several years down the road develop an autoimmune condition as a result of the vaccines.

Multi-dose flu shots and other vaccines still contain mercury, which can trigger autoimmunity

The way this critical study is being presented in the media, though (if it's even being covered at all), only warns childbearing-age women to avoid things like tuna fish that are widely known to contain mercury. Nothing about avoiding vaccines like Novartis' Fluvirin and Sanofi Pasteur's Fluzone that still contain added mercury is anywhere to be found in the media reports.

This is perhaps due to the fact that much of the mainstream media is currently in irrational denial of the fact that mercury is still being used in vaccines. The specious claim that "vaccines don't contain mercury!" is patently false, and yet nearly every major news outlet is right now making this claim to deter free-thinking parents from making an educated decision against vaccines.

"Mercury is a known neuro-toxin which can cross the placenta and blood brain barrier and concentrate in the blood and brain but can also affect the immune system, kidneys and lungs," explains the National Vaccine Information Center. "Some autistic children have been found to have high levels of mercury in their hair as well as heavy metals, such as aluminum and lead," that are also in vaccines.

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